Driving New Heights in Value Creation through AI Innovation and Techco Transformation
Transforming Telecom through Artificial Intelligence
In a recent keynote speech at MWC Barcelona, James Chen, the President of Huawei's Carrier Business, addressed the pivotal role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the transformation of telecommunications. He emphasized that transformation is not the end, but rather a means to achieve greater value creation. As the telecom industry evolves, traditional service providers are increasingly shifting towards becoming digital service providers (DSPs). This transformation is driven by rapid advancements in technologies such as 5.5G, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.
The Emergence of Techcos
To facilitate this transition, Huawei has proposed the 'Five Ones' capability model. This model aids operators in reshaping their businesses, operations, maintenance (OM), and infrastructure, enabling them to continuously create value by seizing transformation opportunities. The focus is on developing new monetization models that offer differentiated experiences. As personal services such as live streaming, business travel, and gaming become mainstream, telecom operators are required to provide customized network experiences. New technology-driven service models are essential for monetizing these experiences effectively.
Leveraging AI for Enhanced User Experiences
AI can significantly enhance operators’ capabilities in recommending service packages that align accurately with user needs while dynamically adjusting network experiences. Thus far, more than 35 operators worldwide have adopted monetization models based on fee and usage to create revenue from user experiences. Additionally, the integration of AI into smart home services is becoming increasingly prevalent. Operators are establishing unified smart home service portals that transition from bandwidth providers to AI service providers. For instance, operators in China and South Korea have launched AI-powered home centers, enabling seamless integration with various smart home devices via multimodal interaction.
A Cloud Platform for B2B Services
To capture opportunities arising from digital and intelligent transformation, operators must offer multi-service converged cloud platforms. These platforms should be equipped with capabilities like cloud marketplaces and smart coding to streamline access to a broader range of B2B services. Such functionalities will facilitate the rapid integration of operators into the ecosystem while enabling developers to innovate quickly and introduce applications to the market. An example includes an operator in North Africa that successfully employed its multi-cloud platform to assist thousands of businesses across ten sectors in embracing digital transformation.
AI Integration into Operations and Maintenance
AI-driven technologies based on core models can improve the operational efficiencies of operators. By creating digital twins of networks and services, they can convert data and scenarios into actionable insights. This enables operators to embed telecom core model technologies into these digital twins or AI agents, continuously training and optimizing them for everyday operations. One success story includes a case where AI technologies were utilized to swiftly diagnose and address network failures, drastically reducing troubleshooting times to under 30 minutes.
Building a Synergistic Architecture
In the AI era, communication infrastructure must encompass multiple resources, including networks, storage, cloud, and computing. Developing an integrated architectural plan that incorporates all these resources is crucial. This architecture should support three essential functionalities: intelligent connectivity providing deterministic assurance and lossless connections for users, a smart cloud that supports heterogeneous computing power in a distributed environment, and intelligent collaboration that synergizes all resource elements from planning to operations.
In conclusion, James Chen notes that leveraging AI innovation serves to accelerate operators' transitions into techcos. Huawei is committed to collaborating with customers to reshape business, operations, maintenance, and infrastructure, creating enduring value while seizing significant opportunities in the AI era.
Conclusion
As the telecom sector adapts to the increasing demand for digital and intellectual services, embracing AI technologies will be paramount for sustaining growth and enhancing consumer experiences. Operators are thus urged to prioritize AI integration to ensure they remain competitive and resilient in this evolving landscape.